Australian Open 2018

[don_budge]

Not to be...not yet at least. Cilic responds with a break. Once again you can sense a change the momentum. Cilic is competing and giving it his all.

[don_budge]

Another unbelievable momentum change. Cilic making another move on the Federer serve. 0-30. 15-30. 15-40. 30-40...Federer just hanging on. Deuce...a huge sigh of relief. Back to work. Advantage Federer. Unbelievable rally...Federer on the defensive and Cilic hits a winner for deuce. Momentum...momentum...momentum. Federer second serve ace for the advantage...sliced out wide. Cilic responds with a return winner. Back to deuce. "Unreal creamy patch of tennis"...says the announcer. Advantage Cilic. He breaks.

Marin Cilic to serve out the fourth set. He does....easily. Federer electing to begin serving the fifth than to contest an on-fire Cilic. Hold on now. It's a donnybrook. A slugfest. Cilic is the aggressor. He has the advantage starting the fifth.

[don_budge]

Once again...another momentum change. How many have there been this match? The ebb and flow in five set matches can be spellbinding. Federer with his teeth into the championship now with a break in the fifth. 3-0. But he was nearly in with a break in the fourth. He has to finish and get the horse in the barn. The ultimate cagey veteran against youth on fire. Come on Roger...bow your neck (as my dear old Dad used to say)!

[don_budge]

Another break of serve for "The Man". Serving for the championship. 15-love. 30-love. 40-love. Sublime. Championship point. Federer wins. No wait...Cilic challenges on championship point. Idiot! It's in. Roger Federer...2018 Australian Open Men's Champion!

[don_budge]

It's HISTORICAL! That's my Living Proof! The one-handed backhand prevails!

[gzhpcu]

20!

[stroke]

Cilic played and competed well. He is such a good player. It has been a brutal era for him trying to win tournaments vs Fed, Nadal, and Djokovic. And here he was again playing in the final vs Fed, who plays tennis at a level all his own, a level no one has ever seen or been able to.

[stotty]

Roger's Road to Oz

A Bedene - Ranking 51
R Gasquet - Ranking 31
M Fucsovics - Ranking 80
T Berdych - Ranking 20
H Chung - Ranking 58
M Cilic - Ranking 6

Enough said....

[gzhpcu]

Did you see how emotional Federer was at the awards ceremony? Just like in the old days. His passion is still there and fuels him...

[bottle]

It wouldn't take anything away from this moment to like women's tennis too and all tennis including that at the recreational level.

[don_budge]

Did you see how emotional Federer was at the awards ceremony? Just like in the old days. His passion is still there and fuels him...

That was an unbelievable moment. He held it together until he came to the part...at the end...where he said I love you to his team. Then he just broke down. There was a lot of love going on. The things that he said about the game ring true to the heart of every tennis player. He struck a chord with everyone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A72M2mZ2wHA

I thought Cilic went on just a bit too long. The loser should just give congratulations and get out of the way of the winner. Roger Federer did a great job representing the game of tennis. Just think how he compares to the other pretenders. He's the real thing. He is the Living Proof connecting all of the dots from Tilden to the present. So you got it right Phil...there was something of the old days there. Like stotty said in a earlier post. One hundred years culmination of tennis. All of the ghosts of the winners and losers of the past. Yeah...he's the Living Proof alright.

[bottle]

I loved when he said the thought of the crowd made him nervous, and that made him practice.

[klacr]

Federer is just the best. End of story.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[arturohernandez]

20 GS! Never thought it would happen. I hated Fed in the 2000's. I rooted against him and for Nadal in 2008.

As he lost and struggled I gained respect in the late 2000's.

Now I admire him in every respect.

Not because he won in his prime. But because he was willing to reinvent himself and continue improving.

Few people have the humility, respect, and love for what they do to allow themselves to sink low and rise again.

The match shows that doing great things involves a lot of little things.

Fed knows how to do so many little things that add up into something great.

[don_budge]

Woke up today without the prospect of news from the Australian Open. A bit of a letdown. That was an exciting two weeks and the final did not disappoint. Roger Federer versus Anybody...in this case Marin Cilic. Cilic did not disappoint and fought all the way to the handshake at the end of the match. His Hawkeye challenge at the end of the match was slightly less obnoxious than that of Nadal's last year. He challenged a blazing serve that caught some millimetres of the line on match point. More on the match...my thoughts.